Major Nelson: Xbox One party system and chat will improve but may not be number one priority for Microsoft

Those who have got their hands on an Xbox One have so far been overall complimentary of the console when it comes to the initial offering of games and general functionality, but in addition to problems with navigation and surfacing video content in countries with supported streaming services, users have discovered that the current Party system (and associated Party Chat) in Xbox One is somewhat restrictive, and in many ways a step backwards from Xbox 360.

The Party and Party Chat system on Xbox 360 lets you chat with up to seven friends in a single lobby allowing everybody to play a separate game while still chatting in that lobby. On Xbox One, it’s not that simple. Long story short, and in a regular scenario, there seem to be a few extra steps to ensuring you’re chatting with friends in the same Party, while the new ‘Smart Match’ feature sounds to be confusing the concept of game invites with Party invites – a game party and Party Chat aren’t mutually exclusive.

It’s a peculiar issue described in a few different ways – if someone with experience with this problem can better explain it, that would be much appreciated so I can fully understand what the rumbling is about.

Regardless, Xbox frontman Major Nelson has noticed the rumbling and has been keeping an eye on the matter while directing user feedback to those at Microsoft who need to know that it’s an issue in the first place. Nelson even popped up in a Reddit thread discussing the Party, writing:

“Had a meeting today about much of this and I can say that things will get better. I can’t offer a timeline of a list of what till be addressed first, but we are aware of the issue and things will get better.”

While it’s heartening that Microsoft isn’t turning a blind eye to the problems that Xbox One owners are facing and actively working to work out the kinks, it will be disappointing to those waiting for a fix to the Party system to notice that this could be one of a laundry list of complaints that the team will address – indeed, an informal list of Xbox One complaints has been created which Microsoft is also keeping an eye on.

Have you got yourself a shiny new Xbox One? Can you attest to these Party system problems?